The life she now leads
by ValduggeryRules
Summary: SET AFTER KOTW: Valkyrie has had enough. With Darquesse in the back of her mind she feels unsafe around everyone she cares about. She leaves for 10 years. When she has to return to the Irish sanctuary on a mission with her new friends, with her old friends forgive her for leaving them, or will they want nothing to do with her? Will Darquesse be the downfall of them all? REVEIW! Xx
1. Chapter 1

**_AN: Please review i really need the feedback if you do i will post another chapter the day after tomorrow as its christmas! :D _**

Set After KOTW

"I can't do this any longer Skulduggery, i just can't. Haggard holds too many bad memories of pain. Yes, i'll miss the good times. Yes, i'll miss the action, but these streets bare to many signs of evil. Darquesse is constantly buzzing in the back of my mind 24/7 now, and i can't fight her for much longer. I have come to terms with the fact that as long as i live, she will rage on inside of me as a low humming in my head, begging for freedom. The only solution is to leave. I have to go. Vanish. Disappear. Where to? I can not tell you. And so i promise you this, Skulduggery Pleasant; Once i have left this house you shall never, EVER see me again. Understood?" Valkyrie proclaimed, as she paced about her soon to be ex-partner's newly refurbished living room; Small drops of salty water welling up in her eyes.

"Valkyrie, listen, we can work this out. You don't have to go. We will find another way. But if you do decide to leave, what will happen to your family? I'm sure you wouldn't want to leave them with the reflection? I mean, she's not you. I wouldn't leave my relatives, if i had any that is, with a fake lifeless entity. And i'm sure you wouldn't either." Came an oh so smooth velvety voice, from the leather sofa in the back of the room, riddled with concern.

"I'll leave a note explaining that i'm safe but have to leave. Or i'll fake my own death by killing the reflection. Either way, this is goodbye. Don't look for me- get on with your life and find a new partner. I won't forget you, old friend. And i hope you do the same." Her shoulders shook violently and tears streamed freely down her face.

"Now now Valkyrie, i could never forget you. And you know it. But i thought we were until the end?" said Skulduggery, his silky voice wavering slightly, as if he may be about to cry, that is, if he could cry. He was a skeleton after all.

Val edged towards him.

"We are until the end-" She stated, giving Skulduggery false hope before raising her hand onto his ribcage slightly to the left, where his heart used to be. "-In here." She finished breaking down into sobs. She was soon enveloped in a large hug.

"And you're sure you won't change your mind?"

"Pos...posit...it...tive. Positive." She stuttered.

He pulled away, holding her at an skeletal arms length. "Even if it's the last thing i do, i will find you Valkyrie Cain."

She gave a brief nod of her tear stained face and exited Skulduggery Pleasant's house for the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

life she now leads2:

-10 years later (Val is 27 here)

Leaving her life behind had been the toughest thing Valkyrie Cain had ever done. And that was compared to slaying gods, shunting to whole different dimensions, jumping off buildings and through windows, fighting a texan hit-man deluxe with a straight razor and being chased by then killing blood-thirsty Vampires.

After everything she had been through, and after all the different villains she had fought, and after all the enemies she had made, Darquesse had been her downfall. The consistent buzzing in her mind had been too much for her to cope with. So she left.

Valkyrie knew that if she had left a note behind with her family to tell them she had left and was never coming back would arouse suspicion. They would phone the police, then try to find her. She couldn't have that. So she killed the reflection.

Killing the reflection hadn't been hard. Just shoot it, it 'dies', people get sad, police are rang, funerals are held and dead reflections are buried. Simple.

What wasn't simple though, was convincing Skulduggery to let her go. She knew he would look for her, but Valkyrie wouldn't let herself be found. Finally she had settled down in a small village not far from a town called Newcastle in the north-east of England. Made some friends. Moved in with them. Got a job working as a freelance agent for the english sanctuary. The sanctuary didn't know what her real name was of course, where she came from or what she looked like. Lies were told and disguises were worn to make sure they did not know exactly who she is and to make sure it stayed that way.

Valkyrie made her way down a narrow winding path that led to the back of her large house through a field, part of which she and her 5 new friends/co-workers/fellow gang members/roommates owned, and had sectioned off a large part with a tall metal fence surrounding it's perimeter so they had privacy while training in the complex art of sorcery.

Once she reached the great metal fence, she glanced over each of her shoulders in turn to make sure no-one was watching, sure enough there was no mortal passers by around, and then used the air to buffet her over the high fence an then manipulated it to soften her landing. She could easily clear the fence now, as she had been doing it for 8 years.

8 years. That was how long it had been since she had moved in with her friends. 10 years that very day that she had moved away from Ireland. And Skulduggery. Skulduggery. Oh how she missed him. Valkyrie was pulled out of her reverie as the worn soles of the boots Ghastly had made her so many years ago reached the ground. Funny that. She hadn't grown in foot size since she left. She had grown about a head taller, of that she was sure, in her first 5 years away, then stopped growing completely.

Her room mates must have been out, as the back door was locked and all lights were off. Valkyrie had to wait in the garden as she had left her key inside the house before she went on her daily morning jog. That day it had taken her half an hour longer than usual, so her friend's were most likely discussing a case in the English sanctuary. She was glad they weren't in, she doubted she could face them without becoming depressed that they were carrying on as usual when she was having an emotional break down inside. It wasn't their fault, they didn't know why she seemed upset on that particular day every year. She hadn't told them anything about her life before she came to England, and didn't plan to anytime soon.


	3. Chapter 3

life she now leads3:

It wasn't long before Valkyrie's friends arrived. She was so bored she had began to summon a flame in each of her hands, throw them down onto different patches of grass, them time how quickly she could withdraw the moisture from the air and put out the blazing grass.

At that moment in time she was wearing a brown leather belt around protective black trousers. In the belt two sharp, gleaming daggers were holstered. Valkyrie wore a black t-shirt and jacket - fading into red at the sleeves - the whole outfit completed with a black fedora fitted tightly to her head, casting a shadow over her eyes and spanned with a blood red ribbon.

Valkyrie jumped as two people appeared beside her, Luke Fable and Hunter Wick. They were able to do this as Luke- aged 25 -was a teleporter; unbeknown to the American and English sanctuaries. He used to be a theif- living alone on the streets of America only to be hunted down by those who he had stolen from so he moved to England to start afresh. Luke then found out he had quite outstanding physical health and had a spectacular amount of strength by getting into a fight with a sorcerer who worked for the English sanctuary.

Thinking Luke knew about magic, the mage took him before the council of the elders who then had no other choice to tell him about their secret lives amomg the human race. They then took him in and set him to work with the gang, that Valkyrie wasn't part of at the time. From then on he was a crucial source of strength for the gang, staying calm in all situations.

Luke had black hair- as dark as raven wings -spiked up neatly; and with a chiselled jaw, strong features and high cheekbones he was incredibly-breathtakingly handsome. His eyes, the colour of melted chocolate, contained a kindness that the rest of him did not possess. He wore a blood red hoodie- blood red being the signature colour of the gang- and dark navy blue trousers with red converse. He knew he was hot, and boasted about it all the time which the gang chose to ignore for the sake of their friendship.

The girl next to him was Hunter Wick. Hunter had worked for the Sanctuary ever since she was 15, 11 years ago. She had always lived in Newcastle alone because when she was 10 her parents were killed on a case involving Serpine.

She has brown hair naturally streaked with sections of blonde, curling at the ends and reaching around 5cm above her hips. Hunter had dazzling hazel eyes, that turned emerald or brown in different situations, that contained the signs of a sorrowful past.

She wore a protective dark grey tank top under a long black leathery coat - that ends just past mid-thigh - a high collar and deep inside pockets that usually conceal all different types of sharp blades. Simple navy blue seemingly-denim jeans are cut off at the bottom with scuffed grey and black combat boots. Her signature crazy grin was worn, as it always was even in life-or-death situations. She wore the same hat as Valkyrie and it would have made her look mysterious and intimidating if she didn't smile all the time.

Hunter studied in the art of symbols, and was the best at what she did. She knew everything about that area of magic, and, as Valkyrie had learned in training, made China Sorrows look like a harmless kitten in combat.

"Heya!" Exclaimed Hunter to Val.

With less enthusiasm, Valkyrie said: 'Hi. Where are the others?"

It was Luke's turn to talk. "They stayed back at the sanctuary because the case concerned Izzy in some way. From what i recall it was about her aunt."

"Do i know her aunty?" Asked Valkyrie.

"I don't think so." Answered Hunter all too quickly. The truth was that Isabelle's aunt was a criminal centred in Ireland, and the gang knew Val was very sensitive about her past life there. They knew nothing about her of course, apart from the fact she used to live in Dublin. Hunter loved her friend, but had sworn an oath to herself that someday she would find out who Valkyrie Cain really was; and how her past somehow involved Ireland.


	4. Chapter 4

life she now leads4:

It was late before the rest of the gang got back and by that time Hunter and Valkyrie were curled up on a sofa under a blanket watching The Hunger Games for the millionth time and mercilessly hurling popcorn at each other while giggling uncontrollably; Val was trying her best to stay positive and forget what happened 10 years ago that very day. Luke was upstairs somewhere probably listening to outrageous music that had no meaning and basically was just a lot of screaming while flirting with girls over the internet. Yes, he was that kind of person.

The first person to enter the room that had came back from the English sanctuary was Joshua Chase, aged 28, who looked stunningly handsome with his stylishly messy Light brown hair swept across his left startling emerald eye. He wore a waist length leather jacket -obviously protective material, everything the gang wore was- with jeans that had a slight rip just above his left knee but he made it look fashionable. On his feet were blood red trainers that had seen better days with scuffed toes and dirty white laces.

Growing up, josh lived in London with his childhood friend Izzy and his adopted brother Oscar. he joined the sanctuary at age 16 with his friends as they all began to mature. A couple of years later they started the gang with their new friend they had met on a case, Hunter. Joshua was a very talented elemental and swordsman, which came in handy during fights.

Close behind Joshua came Isabella Spring, also known as Izzy. She was the youngest of the group aged 19 and grew up with Josh in London. Izzy was a sensitive and was highly advanced in the area of shooting with a bow.

She had neat blond hair in a short bob curving inward slightly just below her chin that framed a rounded face with large eyes, her pupils black ink dots staining a sparkling electric Safire blue iris. She had full lips and wore A tan leather jacket that reached her waist and was reasonably tight. Izzy's long legs were covered in darker tan tight protective jeans to top it off she wore Shiny black boots with a small heel that came up to around 5cm above her ankle. She was Quite short but slim and muscular. In her hand she held the same hat as Hunter and val were wearing.

Last to enter the room was Oscar Rivet. He was the tallest and most intimidating of the group, towering over most people he came across. He was adopted by josh's family aged ten, living in a foster home for most of his life.

Oscar was a necromancer, and his power was held in a blood red pendant that hung around his neck. He was best hand to hand combat, using his size strength and weight to his advantage while being quite quick still. Even though he seemed scary at first, he was kind and generous while being like a father to the group even though he was only the oldest by two years.

One of his eyes was oak brown, the other a piercing emerald. His Light brown hair is a bit longer than Josh's, and is quite ragged and messily cut. He took no pride in his appearance and you could tell.

"Hi girls!" Josh was the first to speak up. "We bring good news!" Izzy cut him off and jumped up and down.

"We've been offered a case in Ireland and we get to work with the sanctuary there!"

Valkyrie felt faint and all of a sudden her vision went black.


End file.
